Opinion

Politics and Education:
The Real Struggle

Fardin Akbar Hyderi

'Strikes' better known as 'Hartals' in our country is a very common dilemma which we all have to face once in a while whether we like it or not. People who are responsible for declaring the so-called strikes think that doing so will prove their power upon the people and add to their own selfish political agendas. But little do they know how much it affects us, the students.

Students have to sit for their exams at the oddest times. Photo: Kazi Tahsin Agaz (Apurbo)

Despite the fact that it hampers our education as we try to follow what democracy offers us
(our right to education), we still see a lot of university students getting involved badly with politics and contributing a hand in ruining education for us. What about Edexcel or Cambridge students who have to sit for his/her exam on that very day? Students who do not want anything to do with such dirty politics -- do the politicians and college rebellions think about us? One doesn't think so! In cases like these, the students have to sit for their exams at the oddest times -- at around 12 am or luckily at 8 pm. These are the common insignificant pressures that these poor students have to face, thanks to our political issues - dillemmas that other students in most countries sitting for the same exam do not have to go through.

Even before the international exams begin, hartals can also put students under unnecessary pressure and paranoia. Classes get cancelled and sometimes even if they do not, students have to attend them amidst the crisis. Sometimes, a lot of students choose not to attend the classes because they feel unsafe and also because they choose not to get into any kind of accidental altercations with the picketers and the politicians around the street. At the end of the day, it is the student's loss for losing out on education.

We have heard time and again that education is the backbone of a nation. If that's the case then why is it that in this nation, education is being compromised for strikes and political drama, making the backbone of our entire nation a very crooked one? The Government should acknowledge and disapprove any hartals during international examinations in this country and must not compromise with students' education.

(The author has just completed his Advanced Level examinations.)